Felicia Pride: I Had to Realize I Have a Gift
Episode Description:
Felicia Pride creates content in all kinds of ways. She was a writer on Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar and is developing the erotic romance feature film Deeper with Universal Pictures and Will Packer Productions. She’s also the brains behind The Create Daily, a popular resource that curates jobs and opportunities for underrepresented creators. She says she created it in 2012 to thrive professionally and have ‘successful, long-ass fulfilling creative careers that we pay forward.’ Now she’s adding ‘Director’ to her title with the online release of her short film “Tender,” which she has released through her production company Felix and Annie. The movie, which is a love letter to all Black women, follows two seemingly different women as they share a very intimate morning after. Listen to her words of inspiration—and discover what exciting (network TV related) things are in her future.
Music Credits: Stock Media provided by AudioKraken / Pond5 Stock Media provided by BenBeats / Pond5
Transcript:
Fanshen (00:01):
Hey, welcome back to Sista Brunch with me, Fanshen Cox.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (00:14):
And me, the show's EP, Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. I'm filling in for Anya, who's out being fabulous today.
Fanshen (00:20):
Yeah. I cannot wait to be able to talk about what she's out being fabulous doing. But anyway, we miss you, sister, but also we're thrilled to have Chris here with us today. And we are back talking to you about black women plus working in the media entertainment and the arts. This is our first episode that we are recording during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as so many other things happening in the world. But we just want to let you know, that's why the sound may be a little bit different. But we decided that we have to keep going because these women's voices need to be heard.
Fanshen (01:01):
Today's guests. I feel like this is one of those guests that needs no introduction. And if you don't know who she is, you have been under a rock somewhere. We've got Felicia Pride and she creates all kinds of different content. She's been a writer on Ava DuVernay's Queen Sugar. She's developing the erotic romance feature film Deeper with Universal Pictures and Will Packer Productions. She also runs her own production company called Felix and Annie, and it focuses on Gen X projects. And we will definitely be asking her lots more about that.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (01:38):
She's also the brains behind The Create Daily, a popular resource that curates jobs and opportunities for underrepresented creators. And she says that she created it in 2012 to thrive professionally. And now she's adding director to her title with the online release of her short film Tender, which is gorgeous. I watched it, and I'm excited to talk about that. Tender takes a look at dreams deferred, lost chances, and finding joy when you least expect it. And the soundtrack by Asha Santee is fantastic. I absolutely loved it. Felicia, welcome to Sista Brunch.
Felicia (02:15):
Wow. Thank you so much for that wonderful intro and for this wonderful platform. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (02:25):
Oh, you're welcome.
Fanshen (02:25):
Felicia, you lead the way in that pay it forward. I love how you do that. You are so much about community. You're so much about uplifting other voices as you go along on your journey making sure that you're always kind of giving a platform for other people. And it's just beautiful to see.
Fanshen (02:46):
What we'd love to start with here on Sista Brunch is your journey. You can start from birth or even parents meeting, or you can start from what was the kind of spark for you to get into the entertainment industry?
Felicia (03:01):
Well, I am the daughter of Felix and Annie. That's what my production company is named after. They're both Baltimorians. My father is from West Baltimore, my mother's from East Baltimore. I wasn't one of those who knew I was going to be a writer since I was five. You know what I mean? And actually I went to school, went to college at a local college and didn't know what I was going to do with myself. Business sounded like I could get a job. So I was like, let me do that. And it had a concentration in marketing, because that seemed a little creative. But it was there that I had a professor who saw something in my writing and suggested that I minor in English. And I was like, that sound like more money, more time. And what am I going to do with it? So I was like, nope.
Felicia (03:46):
So I graduated and ended up getting a corporate job working in marketing and I was quickly bored. And so I was on the internet. This was some of the earlier days of the internet. And I remember I was writing bad poetry at the time and Def Poetry Jam had a forum. So I posted some of my poems in the Def Poetry Jam forum. And the fact that people were commenting on my work, whether they liked it or not, but it was being seen. That really opened up something in me.
Felicia (04:15):
And so I looked for other opportunities to write and I found an internship, even though I was working full time. So free internship at a community newspaper run by a black guy, Rance Huff called Black [inaudible 00:04:27] out of Staten Island. And he would essentially let interns write and he would publish us. So my first published piece in 2000 was the review of Mary J. Blige's No More Drama album. Because I was like, I know Mary. I had no idea about music criticism as a field, which I have so much respect for. He would mail us the print versions and seeing my name in print, I just felt seen. And I didn't know how many people were reading this newspaper. I was hooked.
Felicia (05:00):
And so I did a freelance entertainment journalist career for some years. And then I was like, you know what? I want to go back to school and get better at my craft. And I was really interested in books at the time. I remember going to Barnes and Nobles and buying books on how to write books. Because I was like, I want to write the great American novel. So I went to Emerson for grad school studying writing literature and publishing. After I left, I went to New York and worked in book publishing. Because I still had my foot in the practical side of things.
Felicia (05:31):
And it was there actually where I started kind of my service to creators, to other creators. It has always been a part of me. I had a newsletter called Backlist at the time where I would interview authors. And I would interview black publishing professionals and review new books. And so I carved out this niche for myself. But I was like, wait a minute. I need to be writing too. So I ended up getting my career off the ground and wrote six books. One called The Message a Hundred Life Lessons From hip hop's Greatest Songs, which was a collection of essays about hip hop.
Felicia (06:04):
And I went travel with that book and we did curriculum with that book. And things were going well till they weren't. Book publishing. I think also a couple of things happened. I think books became kind of hard for me. They take a lot out of you. I also, I just, I wasn't sure of myself as a writer at that time. I was getting some book deals, but I just was not sure of myself. And then things just started to dry up for me. And so I'd made the fatal mistake of I stopped writing. I should have got a job, which I did, and keep writing, but I just stopped writing.
Felicia (06:38):
And I did that for about seven years. At that time I was running a consultancy where I was bringing my marketing degree back, doing marketing work for what started out as books and then I expanded into films and that sort of thing. Until I got to the point where I was burnt the fuck out. I had this big contract, one of the biggest contracts in my consultancy ever got. And two months later, the project was shut down. And I was like, if I'm going to be broke, I want to be broke being creative. You know what I mean? I was in service of other creators, which is great, but I'm like, I got to get back to me.
Felicia (07:11):
So I remember talking to my mentor at the time, Alice [inaudible 00:07:14], who's amazing. She's like, "What do you want to do?" I was like, "I want to write and create for the screen." I had started kind of teaching myself a little bit or being interested in screenwriting. And she's like, "Well, you should move to the biggest market." And at the time, I only had one feature that I was trained, self-trained myself to write. And it was the day before Thanksgiving. And when she said that ... Mind you, the whole time, I was like, California's weird. People who live in California are weird. It's too far away.
Felicia (07:44):
Even though I would come to LA, have a good time. I was still like, it's too far from my mama. And I remember going to my mama house after talking to Alice and I was like, "Mom, I'm going to move to LA." And she was like, "Okay!" And I was like, "I'm going to move in September." And then I ended up moving that March. I was 35 years old and I moved across country. And I've been here for five years now.
Fanshen (08:08):
Oh my goodness.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (08:09):
Wow. That's incredible.
Fanshen (08:10):
I mean, doing quite well, given that you only been here five years.
Felicia (08:15):
Well, thank you. You know what? I think it was a mix of having done so much spinning of my wheels prep previously that I didn't really come to spin my wheels. Even though the first year and a half, I was working in film distribution, which was a connection of the work that I was doing because I was essentially an impact producer.
Felicia (08:33):
So I was doing a film distribution work and I was an exec and then I got laid off. And it was then that ... because I was on the path of being a VP and I loved my job. I was going to Sundance for free. And I was again in service of creators. I was helping filmmakers with the distribution plans and getting their films out there. And when I got laid off, it was devastating. But then it was like, okay, you need to get back to center why you got here. And I got very serious, very quickly in what I needed to do to ... My goal was to become a full time professional film and TV writer.
Fanshen (09:11):
Hey it's Fanshen and you're listening to Sista Brunch. We'll be right back. Oh, and if you have not already, you need to follow us on Twitter. And yeah, you guessed it. We are at Sista Brunch and we'll be right back.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (09:41):
Hi and welcome back to the show. I'm Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. Let's get back to our conversation with the director of the movie Tender, Felicia Pride.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (09:49):
There are a lot of people who are being laid off. And there are a lot of people who have been in service to other people. And have done what you've done. And that's a really hard thing to do. And where did you find the gumption to do that?
Felicia (10:03):
I think I got to the point where I was like, it's either now or never. And I got to the point where I was so exhausted of running away from this gift. And that's what I also had to realize is that I have a gift. And I think we run away from the gift because of the responsibility. I think we've run away from the gift because of the promise and the potential of it. I think we run away from the gift because of the fear.
Felicia (10:28):
So I had been running away from my God given gift for so long that I was literally exhausted. And I was like, I'm tired. And so what I did on the practical side of things was I completely reconfigured my relationship with the work. I basically had to get back to a healthy relationship with the work because I had put so much burden on the work. Like, oh, the work got to financially support me, which it does not have to do. The work has to make me happy. Like all these things that I had put on the work and not on myself. I had to make up with the work, like re-court the work. Like let's go out, let's go. And really just get back to a healthy relationship, which meant that I had to prioritize it.
Felicia (11:14):
The work became the most important thing for me, even more so than my paying my bills. And what I mean by that is the bills are going to get paid at some point. But in order for me, I had to stay tuned to the longterm vision. So I started taking on like in the impact world, I basically was a coordinator for a impact producer I used to hire on projects. She had this project, she was like, "You don't want to run this campaign?" I said, "Absolutely not." I was like, "I want you to tell me what to do for this hourly rate. That's enough to cover my bills so that I can focus on the writing. That is what I need."
Felicia (11:47):
And then I also had to reposition myself publicly as a writer because I forgot. So I know a lot of people forgot that that's how I came up. I was journalist and author. So I had to completely let folks know again, I'm not an exec, I'm not impact producer. I'm not all these things that I'd said I was in order not to say writer. I am writer. So that sort of just defining it and claiming it for myself. Then allowed me to do it's do so publicly. And then I got like started taking a bunch of classes, got my portfolio up. I had a career coach that works with specifically entertainment professionals. So I just got really, really serious. But it was definitely some hard days, but I knew I was getting closer and closer. You know what I mean? I just knew. I felt it. I was like, I am actually getting off this hamster wheel, finally after years. After years.
Fanshen (12:41):
I love this because even when I said like, "Oh five years isn't that long." But this is true for so many black women. There's so much behind that five years that it looks like just five years. But one thing that I find, and I think we have not talked about this enough on this podcast. Is the balance between your craft and your skill that you love so much and knowing how to market yourself. And we especially are for all kinds of reasons, that's a fear we have of talking ourselves up and being really clear about who we are and what we do. And you are such a phenomenal example of that. What can we do to help black women understand that that's an integral part of doing this work?
Felicia (13:35):
Well, thank you for saying that. Because I didn't think so for a long time, but it actually was my therapist who helped me work through that. My black woman therapist, who I love, Dr. [Tai 00:00:13:46], who was like, "When you hide, you deny the world your brilliance and that's selfish." And I was like, "Ooh, okay, let me unpack that."
Felicia (13:56):
And so what I had to do also, for me perspective is everything. So I had to move away from me marketing myself. Because that made me feel uncomfortable, even though I see the value in that and towards me sharing my journey. Because I realized that wow, people actually get something from me talking about this. So that's kind of how I look at it as also part of paying it forward is sharing the full journey.
Felicia (14:20):
Because I think a lot of times we see the red carpet and all of that. But how did this ... And I think sometimes even people are like, "Ooh, you got here fast." And I was like, "No, no, no. Let me kind of explain. This has been 20 years in the making as a writer. And a lot of ups and downs. But also a lot of skill building, particularly for Hollywood. How to deal with people, how to be good in a room, things like that."
Felicia (14:47):
So I think that, it sounds cliche, but we to get over ourselves. Because a lot of people who not as good as us be out here in the streets.
Fanshen (14:57):
You're our first guest that has a publicist. And I think that is super important for folks to know and to talk about. Is that you having someone rep you like that. So will you just talk a little bit about that?
Felicia (15:13):
Yeah. I want to shout out [inaudible 00:00:15:14]. [inaudible 00:15:14] is amazing publicist out of New York. She and I worked together on a short film, maybe four something years ago. And we just worked well because we met each other's hustle. And so she gets me in that perspective and I get her. She is smart, she works hard. And I see the value in a good publicist.
Felicia (15:45):
Now, all publicists ain't built the same, you know what I mean? And it's interesting because I had talked to some publicists around Really Love going to South By. And it's really like, "Oh, well you got to have this going on. You got to have that going on. You have to ..." So me and [inaudible 00:16:01] just let on our own. We'd be like, "Well, what are the angles? What can we talk about it?" You know what I mean? There's still stories that I think can be told even when there's not this hot project that you have to have. That tells me if you need a really, really hot project, that you're not that creative as a publicist.
Fanshen (16:18):
You're not [inaudible 00:16:18].
Felicia (16:19):
I'm basically just doing the work for you.
Felicia (16:21):
You know what I mean? [crosstalk 00:16:22] Yeah, exactly, so that was something that I really ... Having done some publicity work, but a lot more in the marketing space. I know the value of a good publicist in order to get out.
Felicia (16:39):
Because I also think that it's important, particularly with ... I feel very passionate about having worked in film distribution that our projects need to be seen. They need to be seen. All the work that we put in to get something made, we can't just let it go. We can't just let somebody take over who doesn't care about as much as we do. And so I'm very, very, very, very big on how can we make sure that the audiences who we intended and we made this for get to see it? And so that's also why I put my money into this because it's so, so important. It's important.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (17:16):
What you're talking about is the ability to define yourself. I think the ability to be able to take those steps so you can redefine your relationship with your work, redefine what your career looks like, requires a certain level of perspective. And that's not to say that people can't do it. I think that our listeners really need to hear that. As you're in these creative industries and you're navigating ways to tell your story, how did you do that?
Felicia (17:46):
Yeah. And it's interesting because a lot of work that I did around developing campaigns, impact campaigns for media, film, books. I did audio podcasts and radio shows.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (18:02):
Can I just pause you for a second? What is an impact campaign for people who don't know?
Felicia (18:06):
So it's a field that's been around for a while. I mean, I think they're professionalizing it more, but essentially an impact producers is someone who comes up with strategies and campaigns in order to extend the impact of typically a social justice project. So one of the biggest projects I've ever worked on, which I'm so incredibly, incredibly proud of to this day, is a film called Slavery by Another Name. Which if you like 13th, I would tell you to watch Slavery by Another Name, which is free on PBS. But I developed the entire educational curriculum for that. We went around and did teacher trainings for that film. We then also did a mobile storytelling trainings. It was just all this in order to extend the impact of that project. So that's essentially what impact producing is.
Felicia (18:51):
And I never really used any of those skills on myself. You know what I mean? So Tender was the first project that I was excited about that I didn't even think about it going into it. But just like again, my sort of commitment to making sure that people see our work. I was like, oh, I can kind of put these skills to the test from beginning to end through from the start of the crowdfunding campaign. All the way through now we want to turn it into a feature. So we're looking at what does that look like?
Felicia (19:23):
What does a longterm fundraising campaign look like? Is what we're tackling. And it's the experiments. You know what I mean? The shit might not work, but I'm interested in also new ways and new modes of doing stuff. Particularly those things that have been typically denied to us or made harder for us. So fundraising, distribution, et cetera. How can we be creative about financing our work and then having to make sure our work reach the people." That's what I'm really interested in.
Felicia (19:53):
And Tender has been a perfect project for that because also just as a writer and we talk about brand, Tender is my aesthetic. And I was so happy that it came out. Even my producer. My producer was like, "This is so on brand for you!" My 20, 22, 23-year-old producer, Regina, who is a dynamo. And then when she said that, I was like, "Yeah, this is my aesthetic." These are the themes I'm interested in. I love music is very important to me. I want to center a Gen X woman. I want to open up our conversations about black women's sexuality and how all the different ways that it can look and our queerness. So that was a perfect project for me to really showcase the whole 360.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (20:47):
Hey, this is Sista Brunch with Fanshen Cox and me, special cohost Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. Stay tuned for more of our conversation with the writer and director Felicia Pride.
Fanshen (21:20):
We are back. Now back to our conversation with Felicia Pride. Your trajectory is exactly that example, I think that we can hold up for young black women plus to say, "There's a space for you. And you're going to be doing a lot of the work to carve it out. And keep doing that because there's a space for you. And you'll start to find the other people. And then you don't have to be pigeonholed." You're like, "I am a writer. That's what people know me for. If you kind of IMDB me, that's what you see. But I know how to do impact producing. And I'm going to do that. I know how to brand myself and market myself. I now know how to direct I know how to distribute it. I know how to turn a short into a feature."
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (22:07):
And also, "I own my own production company."
Felicia (22:13):
I'm glad you brought that up because especially with everything that's happening in the world, I just been thinking a lot more about ownership. I've always thought about ownership. But with Tender, I was like, I need to own this feature. That's taking a page out of Ava DuVernay's book of owning, I will follow, and essentially self distributing that, making enough money to put into to be able to be an investor in your second film. So I just been thinking a lot about ownership.
Felicia (22:44):
And also not ... I was talking to a friend about this. It's like not always operating in the Hollywood system. Because the only thing you can control in that system is creating work, but you can't control it getting made. And so much of our work is just not made in Hollywood. And so I'm like, okay, if I'm going to work in that system to fund my lifestyle in order to be this independent artist. That's kind of how I'm looking at is like, I want to be able to continue to make art creatively because I can control the making of that.
Felicia (23:16):
I can make sure that a project like a film I'm working on now called Alameda, inspired by my mother and my sister, my niece. I can make sure that it gets made. I know that's going to get made because I'm going to do what it takes to get that movie.
Fanshen (23:29):
You're going to make it, right.
Felicia (23:29):
Tender was crowdfunded. So it was the community that funded that film. So you don't have the money, it's like turn to the community. And it helps when you've built some goodwill in the community. You know what I mean? Where the community is like, "We see you, sis, we've seen what you've been doing. And we want to pay it back to you." And that's kind of how I felt. I felt like, wow, I was so overwhelmed by all the people who showed up for me in crowdfunding for that film.
Felicia (23:58):
So I think it is about making something, but I also think it's about sustainability. So that's another thing that I would always talk about with filmmakers and distribution. It's not just one film. You are building your ability to continue to make films. And so that's why I also think it's important as even as you go in and make something, how can I make this in a smart way? How can I distribute this in a smart way so that I can continue to make films, so I can continue to make stuff? So that's kind of what I'm thinking about.
Felicia (24:28):
And the first film that I sold, Really Love, it took me 10 years to sell that film. I just wonder what would have happened. I mean, at certain points we were thinking about trying to self finance. I was thinking about a model of going to 50 black people with disposable income and raising 50 for 50. 50 people at $50,000. So I'm still thinking about plans like that. How does that look? What does that look like? But I just wonder, had we gone a different route, would it have taken 10 years? 10 years? We don't have 10 years to wait on all these stories. We really don't. And that was literally 10 years for someone to say, "This is good enough to get made." When I already knew that, you know what I mean?
Fanshen (25:16):
So how have things been for you now with COVID? How have things shifted and how are you kind of coping with all of it spiritually and also career wise?
Felicia (25:31):
Well, career wise, it's interesting. I'm on a new show. I'm on Grey's Anatomy. So I'm very grateful to be working and to be learning new ... how network shows work. And then like a property that has been around forever. Like what does that look like? So I'm very, very blessed to be working in a room. But and then I'm still working on projects. Interestingly enough, and I mean, this is purely anecdotal from my friends, but in terms of my writer friends, stuff is still happening. Stuff is still coming our way, development opportunities. And then also independent work that we're working on ourselves. We're trying to push those things forward.
Felicia (26:11):
Mentally, it's been a struggle though. So that's why I had to get back into therapy. Because I didn't realize how hard ... How much I was suppressing racial trauma and just keep going, going, going, moving through it till I hit a wall. And so that has definitely been difficult. And so I've been also really focusing on, as my therapist said, because she was like, "Storytellers ..." She was helping me reconnect my purpose. She was like, "Storytellers help us reconnect with our humanity. And that's more important than ever." She was like, "It sounds like you're struggling because you're disconnected from your humanity. What are the things that you can do?" And so that's was really powerful to me. And that's what I've been kind of working on is like getting reconnected with humanity. Which was like Juneteenth and fellowship and all of that. But in terms of professionally, the projects are still coming.
Fanshen (27:15):
Amazing. If you don't mind and fully understand if you do, can you talk about how ... Because you said you do have a black woman therapist.
Felicia (27:29):
Oh, yes. Her name is Dr. Tai. Blackgirldoctor.com. She's hosting free healing circles on racial trauma. So she's fantastic. She's fantastic. I mean, she helped me at a low point around 2018 when I was going through some professional bullshit. My father had just died. I was going through some relationship bullshit. And I was like, this is too much for me. God, I know you say enough on your plate, but this is way too much. And she really helped me through that. It's a shorthand. I don't really need to explain a lot of things. You know what I mean? And I found her on therapyforblackgirls.com.
Fanshen (28:18):
This is Sista Brunch with the Fanshen Cox, me, and our special cohost, Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. stay tuned for more of our conversation with a writer and director Felicia Pride.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (28:44):
I just want to ask about Tender. I was listening to you talk about your trajectory. And this is a bit of a turn, but was that a conversation between yourself?
Felicia (28:53):
It absolutely was, but I would say the aspirational parts of myself. I think these two women are much braver than I am. But it is about essentially a woman who has this tender moment, this intimate moment and experience with her younger self, essentially. And how her younger self is helping her to get back to herself.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (29:23):
So the movie is about self love in the truest of ways.
Felicia (29:27):
Self love and intimacy. But also that how we can be reminded of our need for self love from other black women. And that's why I was like, it's the morning after. Like they have this ... I'm sure it was like some hot, wonderful sex. I think it was popping. But I was really interested in the emotional intimacy that they are able to have as quote unquote, seemingly strangers. But they have so much more in common than they think. Because of the age difference and class, because I like to play with class, and status and stature. But yes, yes, you're probably one of the first to say it so directly.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (30:16):
I'm interested in why you want to focus on Gen X stories specifically.
Felicia (30:21):
Well, I think if you look at movements, you're younger in that part of the movement. And then life hits you and you get older and you get safe and you get all these things. So like when we were starting hip hop, we were younger. And when baby boomers were going through the civil rights movement, they were younger. They were young people as a generation. So I think that, of course life hits us and then we got to think about, wait a minute, I got these three kids, this tuition. Life just ... All of that, all of that.
Felicia (31:00):
One thing I was like, I was 39 in my first writer's room. I was 39 as a staff writer and that is older than typical. And so I think that there's a lot of store ... The conversations that I have with my friends are just different. They're just different. And I think there's just a lot of space for the conversations I have with my friends, with Gen X.
Felicia (31:29):
So yeah, that's really why I focus on it, is because I think there's space for it. And I think there's still a lot of conversations that we haven't seen on screen. But I think one of the leaders for me of that is Mara Brock Akil. She's like the leader. I love her work so much of showcasing ... Girlfriends is the Gen X show for one of the [inaudible 00:31:57] Gen X shows for me. Even in our youthfulness, you know what I mean? So that's a lot of the reasons why, is I just think that there's a lot of space for it.
Fanshen (32:09):
I love that you asked that question, Chris. Because we've talked a lot, especially with our writer guests, about authenticity, about really believing in your voice. And you talked about that some too. But I also love this idea of specificity of it. That you're like, "This is who I am." So yes, it's authentic, but there are some generational concepts within who I am. There are identity concepts, there's intersectionality. All of those things who I am. And that gives you so much strength to know that that is your voice too. That is your authentic voice. Is those things that are specific about you. That put you in a pod of people who are going to really resonate with your work. And not that other people, it's not accessible to others, but ... Oh, Chris. She's amazing.
Felicia (33:03):
I love that because even Tender, the reception to Tender has been so amazing. It just reconfirmed how hungry we are. We as black women, black queer women, just the gamut of just wanting to see us on screen. Like, you know it. You know it. But Tender really had me feeling it in my soul. But what I realized too is like, it's just one story. It's just one. It's just one. It's very specific to, again, my aesthetic, my experiences and what I want to see. And that's why it's like, we need so many more stories. We need so many more of us telling our stories. It just really hit home for me for that reason. And seeing Tender go through the release process.
Fanshen (34:00):
So I want to make sure that we support you in all the ways that you'd like us to. So talk about where we can follow you and-
Felicia (34:08):
Thank you. So if you want to watch Tender, you can do so at tendermovie.com. We have a lot of exciting news forthcoming, which I'm really, really excited about. From festivals to some other great initiatives. So if you go to tendermovie.com, you can watch the film, but you can also sign up for our mailing list and be updated on that.
Felicia (34:26):
We also just launched on Instagram @TenderMovie. And then I'm on Instagram and on Twitter @FeliciaPride.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (34:33):
Wonderful. And we didn't touch on Create Daily, but real quick, tell us about that.
Felicia (34:37):
Yeah. The Create Daily is a service I started in 2012 for underrepresented creators. And I used to send it out every day, which blows my mind. It was one opportunity a day. Yeah. One opportunity a day. But now it's weekly. And it's chock full of tons of opportunities, anything from funding to programs. And the goal is to curate opportunities to help us to be able to focus more on creating, so that we can thrive professionally.
Fanshen (35:02):
And you've got your IG lives, chats.
Felicia (35:05):
Yeah. Our IG lives. It just came back. But so far we've talked to Numa Perrier. We've talked to Cree Summer. So I'm really excited. And they're just on my IG live on Wednesdays at 6:00 PM PT. And it's just an informal conversation called Chats with my Creative Friends.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (35:22):
Wonderful.
Fanshen (35:23):
Felicia, thank you so much.
Felicia (35:25):
Thank you for this. And I just want to thank you, Fanshen, for the work that you do. It is a lot of times very thankless work, but you are behind the scenes making big things happen. You were in front of the scenes, calling out people, supporting people. And I just really, really, really appreciate that. And I just want you to know that I see ... I don't see everything that you're doing because I know you're doing so much more than I see, but that I see you. So thanks for that.
Fanshen (35:52):
Thank you. Oh my goodness.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (35:53):
Yes, I second that motion too.
Fanshen (35:55):
Thank you so much. Onwards. That's all I have to say.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (36:02):
Felicia Pride, I want to thank you. Felicia Pride, writer, business owner, director, media person extraordinaire, and fantastic conversationalist. I don't want to mess that word up. Thank you so much for joining us today on Sista Brunch.
Felicia (36:18):
Thank you so much for having me. This has been wonderful.
Fanshen (36:23):
So that was our conversation with writer and director Felicia Pride. Go to sistabrunch.com to find out more about her and all of her projects. And thank you for listening to Sista Brunch with our fabulous guest cohost today, Christabel Nsiah-Buadi, and me, Fanshen Cox.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (36:41):
You can follow us on Instagram @SistaBrunchPodcast to find out what's caught our attention. We're also on twitter @SistaBrunch, on, Facebook, at sistabrunch.com/sistabrunchpodcast. And do not forget to subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your podcasts.
Fanshen (36:58):
Yes. That's important. Subscribe, rate it. Tell folks you love it and share it. Share it with other people.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (37:05):
Please, please, please, please. And thank you.
Fanshen (37:08):
So they have to stop telling us that they can't find talented people because they're all right here.
Christabel Nsiah-Buadi (37:14):
Our show producer is Ms. Brittany Turner and we will see you next time.